Side hand brake for railway cars



April 25, 1933.

R. w. BURNETT 1,905,213 Lsnm HAND BRAKE FOR RAILWAY c/ms Filed Sept. l1, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 25, 1933. R. w. BURNETT 1,905,213

SIDE HAND BRAKE FOR RAILWAY CARS Filed Sept, 11. 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 25, 1933 PATENT OFFICE RICHARD W. BUBNETT, F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS SIDE BRAKE FOR RAILWAY GARS Application led Septemvlier 11, 1930. Serial No. 481,222.

This invention relates to railway car hand brakes and particularly to new and improved arrangements of the hand power mechanism whereby the said mechanism will be available for use at all times without interfering with the loading of the car and is so arranged that it may be readily and conveniently operated by a trainman while the latter is standing on a side ladder of the car. The invention contemplates an arrangement whereby the hand power mechanism may be readily operated with one hand, leaving th`e other hand of the operator free to maintain his position on the car.

A more specific object is to provide a new hand brake arrangement whereby the hand power mechanism of the type shown in my copending application ,Serial No. 109,061, filed May 14, 1926, may be applied to cars of 20 various types in locations more suitable for x operation ofthe power mechanism and which at the same time insures the arrangement of cooperating mechanism whereby a direct pull can be exerted on the brake rigging of the car,` thereby making it practicable to arrange the'hand brake pull-rod beneath the car in such location that it will not be brought into rubbing engagement with any part of the car under-frame. The construction of the car under-frame, the provision of drop bottom doors, and many other features .of construction, present depending obstructions at the sides of certain types of cars, which make it necessary or desirable, to arrange the hand brake pull rod near the center of the car so as to insure free operation of said pull rod and also avoid interference with the operation of the drop doors of the car. In accordance with my present invention I arrange the hand brake power mechanism at one side of the path of movement of the hand brake pull-rod (preferably at one side of the car) and transmit power to the latter throu h the medium of flexible connectors and sha members.

Another object of the invention is to provide for the application of hand brake power mechanism to the side of a railway car, thereby providing a suitable hand brake installa- 50 tion for railway cars of the drop end gondola type, in which type of car it is impractical to attach the hand-brake power mechanism to the drop end wall.

The above arrangement of the hand power mechanism at one side of the car presents v further advantages in connection with railway cars of other constructions. It will be therefore understood, that the invention is not confined in its utility to drop end gondola cars but may be applied to the corner structure of cars of any type now in general use.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein: l

Fig. 1 is a side View in elevation of the corner portion of a railway car of the drop end. gondola type showing a hand brake power mechanism supported thereon. I

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front view in elevation of the car end construction shown in Fig. 1 and illustrating the opened and closed 70 positions of drop bottom doors.

'Fig. 1 3 is a sectional plan view taken through the upper portionof the car.

Fig; 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through the bearing and operating 5 lever on line 7 7 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View taken on line 8-8 of Fig. 2 illustrating the construction of my improved rocking member for transmitting the power fromthe hand power mechanism to the brake rigging; and f Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken through the hub portion of said power transmitting member andthe adjacent bearing of the shaft in which said member is mounted.

The hand brake mechanism employed in connection with my present invention may be described generally as consisting of a hand power winding mechanism 10, a power transmitting member composed of a drum segment 21a, horizontal shaft 19l1 and an operating lever 24, a flexible connector 12a for connecting the hand power mechanism to the operating lever 24a and a flexible connector 95 13 for connecting the drum segment 2'1i to the hand brake pull-rod 14 or to other parts of the brake rigging beneath the car. The hand power mechanism includes winding mechanism enclosed in the housing 10, the

latter of which is supported on the corner structure of the car body in a position inwardly from the outer face of the side wall of the car so as to reduce the overall side clearance of the car. The said housing 10 is preferably secured on the bracket 35 which in turn is fixed to the forward face of an angular corner post structure 34. rlhe said bracket member 35 is disposed in a plane parallel to the side wall of the car so as to support the said brake housing 10 and vertical wheel 15 in a corresponding plane relative to the side wall of the car so that a trainman standing on the rungs 32 of the side ladder or on the step 33 thereof may readily operate the hand wheel 15 with his right hand while holding onto the car with his left hand. ln order to providefadditional security for the brakeman l have provided an angular handhold 36 secured to the bracket 35 and to the corner post of the car as shown in Fig. 1i

ln order to obtain a substantially straight pull on the pull-rod 14 during the brake setting operation, the shaft 19a extends transversely of the car beneath the end sill thereof, the said shaft being square in cross section except at the end portions which are rotatably mounted in the bearing bracket 20a-20 The drum segment 21a is mounted on the inner end of the shaft 19aL in alignment with the pull-rod 14. The said segment Amember consists preferably of a substantially square hub portion 38, a central web portion 39 and reinforcing lateral webs 40 eX- tending from the channeled winding surface 41 to the hub portion of the member. rlhe flexible connector-13 is connected to the forward portion of the segment 21a so that the said connector will wrap about the grooved winding surface 41 during the brake setting operation.

rlhe operating lever, located at the other end of the shaft 19u, consists of a relatively wide square hub portion 42, a central web portion 43 and a reinforcing lateral web 44, the latter of which tapers upwardly toward the wide hub portion of the lever so as to provide mas-mmm strength the point where the lever is attached to the shaft 19H. rlhe lower end of the operating lever 24, preferably extends forwardly at substantially right angles to the upper portion of the lever, and is provided with a curved slotl 26 which receives a clevis pin 27 at the lower end of the vertical connector 12a. The said vertical connector Consists of a chain and a rod section, the latter of which is provided at its lower end with a clevis which embraces the slotted end portion of the operating lever 24F' so that the clevis pin 27 will have a sliding engagement with the said end of the operating lever. rlhe weight of the rod section and the operating lever 24 is preferably such that when the brakes Vare released the 5 drum segment and the operating lever thererename for will assume the position shown in Fig. 1.

The installation of the hand brake herein shown presents certain advantages in connection with car constructions having drop door bottoms, side hoppers, or other depending obstructions near the side of the car. In Fig. 2 l have shown the preferred position of the transverse shaft 19, operating lever 24L and the rocking member 21a when the brake is installed on cars having drop bottom doors. One of said doors 45 is shown in its open position for the purpose of emphasizing the advantage obtained by the transverse arrangement of the said shaft 19a. The operation of the hand brake herein illustrated is as follows rlhe trainman mounts the car and while standing on the side step or on a rung 8f3. of the side ladder imparts a clockwise movement to the hand wheel 15. This movement of the hand wheel results in an upward pull on the vertical connector 12a which rocks th c operating lever 24p* upwardly. During this upward rocking movement the clevis pin 27, at the lower end of the connector 12, slides outwardly'toward the end of the slot 2G thereby increasing the eective length of the power arm 24a. rlhe upward rocking movement of the lever 24n rotates the shaft 19a and the drum segment 21 so as to wind the chain 13 about the winding surface 41. `When it is desired to release the brakes the-trip lever 28 is actuated which disengages mechanism (not shown) to permit the hand wheel 17 to move in the reverse or counter clockwise direction.

While l have illustrated my invention in connection with a specific type of railway car, it will be obvious that the brake mechanism may be applied to railway cars of various constructions without departing from the spirit of my invention and thatl the rocking member 21a may be disposed at any location transversely of the car which substantially aligns with the pull-rod 14. will be understood the 'that l c all changes in arrangement and co1 uction of the hand brake echanisni herein shown that come within the scope of the appended claims.

The combination of the winding mechanism and rocking member; the housing construction and the arrangement of the hand power mechanism on the corner construction of the car is not claimed herein apart from the rocking memberembodying a transverse shaft and a rocking member about which the horizontal pull chain is wound at a point remote from the operating lever. rlhe said combination of hand power mechanism including a vertical wheel and a rocking member is claimed in my copending applications Serial No. 109,061, filed May 14, 1926, and Serial No. 349,817, filed March 25, 1929. rlhe housing construction herein shown is claimed in my copending application Serial No. 329,243,1iled December 29, 1928, and the general arrangement of the hand power mechanism on the corner structure of a railway car is claimed in my copending applicatlon Serial No. 369,701, filed June 10, 1929.

I claim:

1. In combination with a brake rigging and the corner post construction of a rallway car, a bracket secured to said corner post to project outwardly therefrom in a plane parallel to the side of the car, a hand power mechanism secured to said bracket and including a vertically disposed hand wheel o erable in a plane parallel to the side of t e car, and means for transmittin power from said power mechanism to the rake ri ging comprising a connector connecting said rake rigging and movable beneath the car, a shaft extending transversely of the car, a rocking member secured tosaid shaft in alignment with said connector and to which said connector is attached, an operating lever secured to said shaft, and a vertically disposed connector connecting said lever with said power mechanism.

2. In combination with the brake rigging and the super-structure of a lrailway car, means for applying power to the brakes comprising a connector attached to the brake rigging and movable beneath the car, hand power mechanism secured to a corner portion of the car super-structure to project into the space between adjacent cars and including a hand wheel operable in a plane parallel to the side of the car, means for transmitt' power from said power mechanism to sai connector comprising a rocking member positioned beneath the car in alignment with said connector, a transverse shaft on which said rocking member is supported, an operatin lever fixed to said shaft to oscillate with an in the same direction as said rocking member, and a vertically movable connector connected with said hand power mechanism and said lever.

RICHARD W. BURNETT. 

